George Steinmetz: Photos of Africa, taken from a flying lawn chair
George Steinmetz: Fotos de África, tiradas de uma espreguiçadeira voadora
Best known for his exploration photography, George Steinmetz has a restless curiosity for the unknown: remote deserts, obscure cultures and the mysteries of science and technology. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
intimidating being up here,
estar aqui em cima,
a tentar dizer aos africanos
trying to tell Africans
sobre o vosso continente.
can see things in a different way,
consegue ver as coisas de modo diferente,
e a baixa altitude
all over the African continent
the spectacle of its diversity.
o espetáculo da sua diversidade.
um puto da Califórnia,
his way through the Ituri Forest of Zaire.
a percorrer a floresta Ituri do Zaire.
of Stanford University,
a Universidade de Stanford
to Kisangani to Cairo
on 10 dollars a day.
in this Dinka cattle camp
neste acampamento de gado dinca
no Sudão do Sul.
how to tie papyrus into a shelter,
a tecer papiros para fazer um abrigo
how they had adapted their way of life
eles tinham adaptado o seu modo de vida
of their beloved cattle.
do seu querido gado.
in ecological ethnography,
em etnografia ecológica
com uma máquina fotográfica.
ride on the roof of the trucks,
no tejadilho dos camiões
going across South Sudan.
do comboio que atravessa o Sudão do Sul.
on the back of an insect
nas costas de um inseto
tapestry of Africa.
tapeçaria de África.
if I could fly over that landscape
como um pássaro.
a professional photographer,
in the central Sahara,
no Saara central,
de máquina voadora.
of flying machine.
and slowest aircraft.
mais leve e mais lenta do mundo.
and a parachute-style wing,
e uma asa tipo paraquedas
I can fly for about two hours,
posso voar durante umas duas horas,
is it gives me an unobstructed view,
uma visão sem obstáculos
of flying over Africa came true
tornou-se realidade
passing out in the middle of the Sahara.
de camelos a atravessar o Saara.
is carrying salt out of the desert,
transporta sal pelo deserto,
is carrying fodder
para os animais, no regresso.
fazer este tipo de fotografias
this kind of picture
with too much downdraft,
e muita ventania,
aircraft I was flying
em que eu estava a voar
partes longínquas da paisagem africana
remote parts of the African landscape
sido possível anteriormente.
really been possible before.
mas não sou nenhum aventureiro maluco.
but I am not some kind of adventure dude.
and I only fly to take pictures.
e só voo para tirar fotografias.
is between 200 and 500 feet,
é entre 60 a 150 metros
three-dimensionally,
a três dimensões
over the years in Africa,
ao longo dos anos em África
for exploration.
para exploração.
20 minutes of battery life
de duração da bateria
is what's on a little screen.
o que há num pequeno ecrã.
and find new things, find weird stuff,
e encontrar coisas novas, estranhas,
on my left leg,
na minha perna esquerda,
a mile above takeoff.
is actually your friend,
to figure out your problems.
para ver quais são os problemas.
I figured this gave me more time
I started taking pictures,
comecei a tirar fotografias
by a Harmattan wind
por um vento seco
right hand corner of this picture,
desta foto
toda a cratera com areia.
the entire crater with sand.
encontrei um outro tipo de vulcão.
I found a different kind of volcano.
exteriors stripped away,
tinha sido arrancada
com a pele toda arrancada.
with its living skin stripped away.
by an enormous freshwater aquifer.
sobre um enorme aquífero de água doce.
sometimes you can see it leaking out.
por vezes vemo-lo a gotejar.
por entre estas palmeiras
through those palm groves,
out of your footsteps.
it's saltier than seawater
é mais salgado do que a água do mar,
a different kind of desert spring.
diferente de mananciais do deserto.
with spring water
com água das fontes
it turned into a spectacle of color.
transforma-se num espetáculo de cor.
for looking at agriculture.
para procurar agricultura.
in southern Algeria,
how to garden in a mobile dune field
numa zona de dunas móveis,
pouco profunda.
have adapted to the African landscape.
se adaptaram à paisagem africana.
a água do lago pouco profundo
the shallow lake water up
com as suas compridas trombas
with their long trunks,
how to thrive in an environment
a prosperar num ambiente
by the dense coastal fog
por densos nevoeiros costeiros
to understand what causes them.
quais são as suas causas.
crater lake in its summit at 3,700 meters.
lago na cratera no cume a 3700 metros.
between Rwanda and Congo.
for the fabled mountain gorilla.
da lendária montanha dos gorilas
the big money-maker in Rwanda,
fonte de receita do Ruanda.
conservation has become a huge success.
tem sido um enorme êxito.
rural population density in Africa,
de população rural de África
of the country I went to.
do país onde estive.
that competition for land
that led to the tensions
que provocou as tensões
a few years ago,
aqui há uns anos
how much things had changed.
muitas coisas mudaram.
muito o seu gado
with their cattle,
their spears for Kalashnikovs.
eram mais espetaculares
were even more spectacular
but things had changed there too.
mas as coisas ali também tinham mudado.
their papyrus shelters
alimentares da ONU.
have learned how to thrive
aprendeu a prosperar
of the Niger River.
and the water subsides,
e a água recua
in the fertile bottoms.
in the lower right corner,
for the major trade routes
para as importantes rotas comerciais
their roofs and the village mosque.
os telhados e a mesquita da aldeia.
villages like this along the Niger River,
de aldeias destas ao longo do Rio Níger.
it had a different pattern.
tinha um padrão diferente
a sculptural masterpiece,
era uma obra-prima de escultura.
and nothing can really compare
nada se compara
and cultural adaptations to them
e suas adaptações culturais
para as ondas mais antigas
into the earliest waves
mountains of Libya,
costeiras da Líbia,
in 700 BC, as a learning center,
um centro de estudo,
no que é hoje a Argélia,
in what's now Algeria
for old Roman soldiers,
de reforma para antigos soldados romanos.
the breadbasket for the Roman Empire.
o celeiro do Império Romano.
it was buried in sand,
ser construída, estava sepultada em areia
was wetter than it is today.
era mais húmido do que é hoje.
came barreling out of the Sahara
proveniente do Saara
date palms in snow,
palmeiras no meio da neve
divertiram-se à grande
throwing snowballs at each other.
que os africanos se irão adaptar
how are Africans going to adapt
climate going forward?
e diversificado como a África,
and diverse as Africa,
that the only constant is change.
que a única constante é a mudança.
are the ultimate improvisers,
são os melhores improvisadores
forma de seguir em frente.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
George Steinmetz - Aerial photographerBest known for his exploration photography, George Steinmetz has a restless curiosity for the unknown: remote deserts, obscure cultures and the mysteries of science and technology.
Why you should listen
Since 1986, George Steinmetz has completed more than 40 major photo essays for National Geographic and 25 stories for GEO magazine in Germany, exploring the most remote stretches of Arabia's Empty Quarter to the unknown tree people of Irian Jaya. His expeditions to the Sahara and Gobi deserts have been featured in separate "National Geographic Explorer" programs. In 2006 he was awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation to document the work of scientists in the Dry Valleys and volcanoes of Antarctica.
Steinmetz began his career in photography after hitchhiking through Africa for 28 months. He then spent fifteen years photographing all of the world’s extreme deserts while piloting a motorized paraglider. This experimental aircraft enables him to capture unique images of the world, inaccessible by traditional aircraft and most other modes of transportation. He has authored four books, and his current project is documenting the challenge of meeting humanity’s rapidly expanding demand for food.
George Steinmetz | Speaker | TED.com